Foggy Bottom escalator caves in

An escalator at the Foggy Bottom Metro station caved in while passengers were on it during Friday morning’s commute, according to Twitter reports from Metro riders.

The blog Unsuck DC Metro says no one was seriously injured, although “one woman was pretty shaken up.” Photos from commuters are available online.

According to one commuter, a Metro employee was stationed at the non-moving escalator on the righthand side of the station exit before the incident. The employee was directing commuters to the working lefthand escalator.

Here’s the account:

So everyone starts trudging up the left, until … The bottom two or three steps of the escalator literally collapsed! They fell through leaving a gaping hole at the bottom of the stairs. Two or three people fell in. I would say it was about a three foot drop into jagged steel from the overturned stairs, not to mention whatever else is underneath the escalator. The people managed to pull themselves out and didn’t look seriously injured, but one woman was pretty shaken up.

Metro has said all entrance escalators are out of service and a shuttle bus service has been requested. The station remains open, however the agency cannot confirm any customer reports or complaints.

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